FAIRFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A southwest Ohio teacher says he is challenging allegations that he told a black student who said he wanted to become president that the nation doesn’t need another black president.

Teacher Gil Voigt (voyt) tells The Cincinnati Enquirer ( ) that he has requested a hearing to defend himself. The Fairfield Freshman School teacher recently was suspended without pay, which a school official said was the first step in the termination process.

Voigt told school officials he was misquoted. He says he commented that the country couldn’t afford another president like Barack Obama, but that skin color had nothing to do with his observation to the black student who wants to be president. Voigt is white.

School officials say a hearing date will be set before a labor mediation referee.